Five Leading Stocks With Rising Earnings Estimates

Analysts typically mark down profit forecasts as reporting dates near, while many companies have been issuing cautious guidance. So highly rated stocks with rising earnings estimates bear special notice.

IBD's Screen Of The Day is Leaders With Rising Estimates. The five companies* are CommVault Systems (CVLT), SodaStream International (SODA), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), Aruba Networks (ARUN) and 3D Systems (DDD). All but Green Mountain are on the IBD 50 list.

CommVault Systems on Wednesday reported fiscal Q3 profit of 39 cents a share, up 44% vs. a year earlier and 7 cents above Wall Street forecasts. Revenue advanced 24% to $128.1 million. The data management software maker's shares vaulted 9% that day to a new high. The stock fell a fraction Thursday.

Analysts now expect a 14% EPS gain in its current Q4.

SodaStream sells in-home carbonated drink systems. The Israeli-based firm has long touted the convenience and cost savings, recently stressing the environmental benefits of not buying plastic soda bottles. It's scheduled to air an ad during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday — after taking out references to Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP).

SodaStream is expected to report a 19% EPS gain next week.

The stock hit a record high last week, but have fallen for the past four sessions, including a reversal Wednesday and a 5% drop Thursday.

Green Mountain Coffee isn't a competitor of SodaStream, but it does cater to the growing appeal of making premium beverages at home, with its Keurig brewers and K-Cup pods. The company is no longer turning out triple-digit growth — but lately it hasn't been slashing estimates either. Green Mountain seems to be weathering increased competition from Starbucks (SBUX) and others. Wall Street sees an 8% EPS gain next week.

Green Mountain shares rose 2% Thursday. The stock is near its best levels since early May.

Aruba Networks provides wireless local area network (WLAN) and other mobile networking services for businesses with much more flexible workforces.

Aruba's revenue growth has slowed for the past six quarters — from 53% to 21% — so that's something to watch. But analysts expect a solid 19% EPS gain later this month.

Aruba shares fell 2.5% Thursday to 23.04, wiping out the gains from last week's breakout effort. The stock intraday Wednesday hit a 10-month high, but Aruba has struggled in the 23-25 area several times in the past year.

Analysts typically mark down profit forecasts as reporting dates near, while many companies have been issuing cautious guidance. So highly rated stocks with rising earnings estimates bear special notice.

IBD's Screen Of The Day is Leaders With Rising Estimates. The five companies* are CommVault Systems (CVLT), SodaStream International (SODA), Green Mountain Coffee Roasters (GMCR), Aruba Networks (ARUN) and 3D Systems (DDD). All but Green Mountain are on the IBD 50 list.

CommVault Systems on Wednesday reported fiscal Q3 profit of 39 cents a share, up 44% vs. a year earlier and 7 cents above Wall Street forecasts. Revenue advanced 24% to $128.1 million. The data management software maker's shares vaulted 9% that day to a new high. The stock fell a fraction Thursday.

Analysts now expect a 14% EPS gain in its current Q4.

SodaStream sells in-home carbonated drink systems. The Israeli-based firm has long touted the convenience and cost savings, recently stressing the environmental benefits of not buying plastic soda bottles. It's scheduled to air an ad during the Super Bowl broadcast Sunday — after taking out references to Coca-Cola (KO) and PepsiCo (PEP).

SodaStream is expected to report a 19% EPS gain next week.

The stock hit a record high last week, but have fallen for the past four sessions, including a reversal Wednesday and a 5% drop Thursday.

Green Mountain Coffee isn't a competitor of SodaStream, but it does cater to the growing appeal of making premium beverages at home, with its Keurig brewers and K-Cup pods. The company is no longer turning out triple-digit growth — but lately it hasn't been slashing estimates either. Green Mountain seems to be weathering increased competition from Starbucks (SBUX) and others. Wall Street sees an 8% EPS gain next week.

Green Mountain shares rose 2% Thursday. The stock is near its best levels since early May.

Aruba Networks provides wireless local area network (WLAN) and other mobile networking services for businesses with much more flexible workforces.

Aruba's revenue growth has slowed for the past six quarters — from 53% to 21% — so that's something to watch. But analysts expect a solid 19% EPS gain later this month.

Aruba shares fell 2.5% Thursday to 23.04, wiping out the gains from last week's breakout effort. The stock intraday Wednesday hit a 10-month high, but Aruba has struggled in the 23-25 area several times in the past year.

3D Systems has been a big winner of the past year — surging 176% since late February — riding the fast-growing wave of 3D printing to make prototypes and specialty parts. But the stock has been volatile, to say the least. The shares fell 4% Thursday after finding some support at the 50-day moving average. 3D is down 16% so far this week as some question its valuation and others cite competition, such as upcoming IPO ExOne.

But even with the big sell-off in the final days, 3D still managed an 8% gain in January.

(Stratasys (SSYS), a 3D rival, rose 1% Thursday after falling below its 50-day intraday. That stock has lost nearly 10% this week and actually did lose some ground last month.)

Wall Street expects 3D Systems to report a 138% earnings per share gain later this month.

*Epoch Networks (EPHC) also is on the Rising Estimates screen, but it's being acquired by Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD).)

See Also

The technology sector in 2015 is picking up where 2014 left off, with the fastest pace of mergers and acquisition activity since the dot-com bubble's peak in 2000. Year to date, tech M&As total $55.3 billion globally, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of deals with disclosed financial ...

Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ) is buying a bigger piece of the growing mobile market. The computer products and services company on Monday announced an agreement to acquire Aruba Networks (NASDAQ:ARUN), a leading provider of network access products for the mobile enterprise for $24.67 a share in cash, ...

The stock market today shook off a weak start and pulled up into healthy early gains. The Nasdaq and the Dow Jones industrial average gained 0.6% apiece. The S&P 500 climbed 0.4%. Volume was firmly higher, up 25% on the NYSE and 19% higher on the Nasdaq compared with trade at the same time ...

Technology stocks are thriving as the Nasdaq composite closes in on 5,000 after a big February advance. Savvy investors know to focus on the very best companies. IBD's Screen Center runs a Tech Leaders screen. Today's Tech Leaders is on Internets. This article does a second sort focusing based on ...

Stocks struggled Friday, sliding in sawtooth fashion to end with significant losses. The Nasdaq, IBD 50 and S&P 500 suffered dents of 0.5%, 0.4% and 0.3%, respectively. Volume rose across the board. The action was sufficiently negative to slap a distribution day on the Nasdaq and the S&P ...

02/27/2015 07:23 PM ET

More Business Articles:

Macau's gambling revenue tumbled almost 49% as China's anti-corruption campaign continued and high rollers took their money elsewhere in February. But the timing of the Lunar New Year also impacted results, says one analyst. Monthly gross revenue sank 48.6% to 19.5 billion patacas, or $2.4 billion, ...

Dick's Sporting Goods (NYSE:DKS) scored points with investors after the retailer posted fourth-quarter profits and sales that crushed views on Tuesday morning, sending Dick's stock nearly 4% higher in early trading in the stock market today. By early afternoon, shares were trading up just about ...

Citigroup (NYSE:C) agreed to sell its OneMain Financial unit to Springleaf Holdings for $4.25 billion, a major step in the New York-based bank's effort to slim down in the wake of the financial crisis. OneMain provides personal loans for consumers who need to pay unexpected bills or buy big-ticket ...

Shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) moved to a new all-time high on the stock market today after the auto parts retailer topped quarterly sales and earnings estimates, helped by favorable weather conditions, low gas prices and a lower-than-expected tax rate. AutoZone shares climbed as high as 674.84, a ...

Select market data is provided by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services. Price and Volume data is delayed 20 minutes unless otherwise noted, is believed accurate but is not warranted or guaranteed by Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services and is subject to Interactive Data Corp. Real Time Services terms. All times are Eastern United States. *Reflects real-time index prices.